Romance ain't Dead
by valentine999
Summary: Second part to "It Wasn't a Summer Romance" between Hitsugaya and the princess of soul society.
1. Chapter 1

Howdy, that Valentine Kid is back with a sequel to **"It Wasn't a Summer Romance" **I felt a bit of explaining was needed, and it was so cute I just had to write some more :D

this chapter isn't much, just reastablishing their relationship.

So, here's where I left you last time, everything that was in the last story is in _italics _(cue crazy "italics movement" right ember:D)….

* * *

_-one month later-_

"_Yo Mei, you still haven't answered my question, who is he?!" Mei stood by her locker as the girls and boys hounded her, it had become an annual ritual, at least once a week they would ask her who it was she loved so dearly. "oh, it's time to go register, Mei you best tell us later!"_

"_Mei! Hurry up, lessons start in five minutes!"_

"_Yeah, I'll be there, I just need to get something…" the students left her and Mei leant against her locker and sighed, it had been a month and no news, a month and everything had been silent._

_She jumped as her mobile phone began to ring; diving into her bag she flipped it open._

"_Hello?"_

"_So who is he?" An unknown voice spoke on the other end._

"_Wha- sorry, who is this?"_

"_What's he like-"_

"_Who?"_

"_This boy that has your heart." As the anonymous voiced said this, Mei sighed with reminisce._

"_He is loyal, so loyal in fact that he would not leave his work for me."_

"_So what would you say about him if he managed to get away for a while?"_

_Mei leant back against her locker, she smiled, "he is courageous."_

"_Well I've got that."_

"_Handsome." She began to walk down the corridor._

"_no question."_

"_Intelligent." She passed her classroom._

"_naturally."_

"_Charismatic." She headed for the exit._

"_of course."_

"_Witty." She had to dodge many classmates playing football in the corridor._

"_Got it."_

"_And he's a complete idiot." She opened the doors and walked out into the sunshine._

"_Why's that?"_

"_For thinking I would not recognise his voice." She whispered to the boy in front of her. "But of course, you know that, don't you Hitsugaya?" The boy turned around with a smile._

"_Call me Toush."_

She walked forwards uncertainly, as if this were a dream and she could wake up any moment, she wanted to keep him there forever. He walked straight towards her with all the certainty she could not muster and held her close, her head rested against his chest, he could feel her body tense against him as though she was prepared for heart ache again. But after a few moments her breathing relaxed and their hearts took the same rhythm.

"How did you….?" she looked up and they were both glad to see their eyes were dry. Hitsugaya smiled; so she had learnt now too, not to let her heart rule her head. This way there was less pain to deal with when it came to goodbye.

"You need to have an update of events uncovered by Soul Society-"

"and they sent you to tell me, that's unlikely." Hitsugaya smiled mischievously at the princess before shrugging.

"They're beginning to understand. After my short encounter with Aizen, that what they thought was a weakness actually makes us all stronger." He let go of her and took her hand.

"and what is that thing?" He kissed her palm before looking back into her eyes.

"Love." He stroked the side of her face and brushed her hair away, he leant in a little further, Mei could feel herself begin to blush. He had held her like this many times, but it had been so long since-

"Mei, where the heck were you at regist…" Hitsugaya and the princess jumped in unison, their heads bumped together and they turned to the speaker, their faces glowing red.

"Yeah, real smooth Romeo," Shuya looked with distaste at Hitsugaya before realisation struck his face. "YOU!" he pointed an accusing finger at Hitsugaya.

"Me…?" The green eyed boy looked over to Mei for some sort of explanation, but she was cut short as the rest of her class came outside.

"Yeah you!" Shuya looked to the princess and soon the whole class became enlightened.

"Oh so this is the guy!" Was all the pair heard as people shouted and moved forward. Shuya and another boy came up to Mei.

"We never thought you'd fall for a punk."

"A punk...?" the princess looked to Hitsugaya, girls gathered round him enquiring about his hair, name and interests, needless to say he looked uncomfortable. A punk was the last word she would use to describe this boy.

"Yeah, what kind of boy dies his hair silver and spikes it up like that?"

"Oh shut up Lee. He's hot, good catch Mei." Aimi, a fellow class mate winked at her and the princess was taken aback.

"Oh…err, thanks!" The princess turned away with a smile, "Toush! Toush!" The princess had to shout to make herself heard amongst the giggles of girls and sneering of the boys.

"Prin…Mei!" Hitsugaya emerged from a group of girls, looking scandalised.

"Bye bye Toushiro!" A high pitched squeal came from the group. The young captain rolled his eyes and, turning back to the girls opened his mouth to speak but he was beaten to it.

"It's Hitsugaya." He looked across as the princess had spoken for him, he smiled.

"we need to talk. Now." He whispered to Mei with urgency.

"Hey Mei, you can get out of here if you want," Emiko called to her, "we'll cover for you…right?" she turned to the rest of the class who for a moment considered the thought but when they looked at the princess and Hitsugaya they all nodded their consent.

"Thank you." Mei looked around to her class; she had never really fit in many places and yet a group of thirty people she had known for about a month were willing to help her. Hitsugaya turned and walked away, the princess smiled at her friends once more and walked away too.

* * *

"So he's going to create a copy of the key and to do that he needs a thousand souls and that's got to be from this town because it has a high spirit density?"

"Pretty much." They were sat on a low branch of a tree, overlooking a river that ran through the park. Hitsugaya leant against the tree trunk and watched the princess, she was fiddling with the key around her neck; he hadn't seen her do this for many years.

"How long do you have here?" Hitsugaya looked up, the princess did not give anything away.

"Oh, in this world I have twelve hours."

"That much!"

"What's wrong with that?"

"you only had to explain a few things to me, hardly a twelve hours worth."

"I do have another task. But you should ask the question you really intended to ask." The princess glanced over at the boy.

"What's that?" She followed him with her eyes as he stood and walked towards her, he sat down next to her.

"You really wanted to ask; how long do you have with me?" that was true, what the princess had inferred without being too hopeful. "I've got about 6 hours to spend here. Plenty of time."

"Plenty of time for what?" The princess knew what but she didn't intend to say it. Hitsugaya brushed the hair off her right shoulder as he had done many times before, he brushed his lips against her neck…

And paused for a moment. Both were held in emotions of happiness and uncertainty; would doing this lead to more heartbreak? But as the princess looked up into those eyes both knew it was OK, what else could possibly happen to them? Mei reached up and ran a hand through silver hair, Hitsugaya smiled and leant inwards, both took a breath.

"Captain! PRINCESS!" As their names were called out both bumped heads for the second time that day, Hitsugaya rounded on the interrupter

"MATSUMOTO!"

* * *

yeah so not much right?

BUT! like before, there is a plan! well...its Ember's plan but i stole it :P

which means it's awesome. :)


	2. Chapter 2

OK guys, I have formulated a plan and it's more elaborate and way more awesome than the previous one! So keep tuned, it gets better…believe it or not!

Here goes…

* * *

"Oh, captain…and the princess… err….what brings you here?" Matsumoto played her most innocent face and the princess laughed, she hadn't done so in a while. Hitsugaya opened his mouth to say something but the princess put a hand on his arm.

"Captain Hitsugaya was informing me on the updates in soul society."

"Yeah, sure he was." A voice from behind made the two teenagers turn around.

"Renji!" The princess stood up in recognition of the read headed man.

"Your highness. So you know of Aizen's plans now?" Renji jumped down from a top branch and landed next to Matsumoto, the princess nodded.

Hitsugaya leant back against the tree trunk, his face cast in shadow, "what're you two doing here anyway?" Matsumoto and Renji glanced to the princess, smirks on their faces.

"What?" Mei looked from one to the other, both trying desperately to hold in the good news, inwardly laughing at the princess' anticipation. "What is it?" Mei looked back to Hitsugaya who shrugged and came forward, interest etched on his face.

"Are you going to stare at us or tell us?" The authority in his tone seemed to snap the other two out of it, the princess smirked.

"Your Highness, you are coming back to soul society!" Matsumoto jumped up and down, making the tree wobble, along with…other things…

"BUT!" Renji said after steadying Matsumoto, "you've been granted an appeal and have to go in for a hearing first, but they love you so you're bound to be let off-"

"And who granted me an appeal?" The smiles faded from the princess' three companions. The princess was anything but happy.

"Why, your parents of course….and Yamamoto." Matsumoto looked at the princess with concern. "what does all that matter princess; you're coming home!" but still the princess did not smile.

"all my life, decisions have been made for me, now they seem to do whatever they like with my fate. One moment I'm banished and the next they're calling me back. I'm weary of this."

"Princess!" Hitsugaya took her hand, held her face and looked deep into her grey eyes. "you're not seriously telling me that you're going to give up this opportunity to come home?" The young captain couldn't believe what he was hearing, he wanted to shake sense into the princess.

"Of course I'm not saying that. It's just…when I get back, there are going to be a few changes to how things are run within the royal household."

All three shinigami silently agreed, the princess had been pushed around all her life, they had seen her just accept what was asked of her. As a child she moved around soul society so often she hardly had consistent lessons, once Renji had even appealed to Room 46 to stop pushing the princess into wherever suited them. Needless to say his chance to become captain of his division was postponed.

"So," the princess looked around, "when is this hearing?" Renji took out his phone to check the time, he looked up at the girls and boy with unease.

"…now."

* * *

"Anything new?"

"Nope, they've been talking for hours."

Retsu Unohana, Captain of the fourth Division and Izuru Kira, Lieutenant of Squad three, were stood outside room 46; the princess' hearing was going on inside.

"well I best go tell the rest."

"Wait, is Captain Hitsugaya back from his mission?"

"No, not yet." Captain Retsu took one last glance at the doors of Room 46, gave a silent prayer for the princess and walked out into the light of the dying sun. She addressed the hundreds of people gathered before her, and those beyond the wall. "there is no news yet, the hearing is still going on." There was a low moan from the crowd, they had been waiting for hours and were growing impatient. Retsu saw bright coloured lights emerging behind the wall, lighting up the city beyond it. She beckoned one of her subordinates to her. "What's going on over there?"

"A woman says she saw the princess future Captain, _"the princess will come home" _is what she said, the people seem to believe her and are setting up for the festivities to follow." The young man answered obediently.

"Thank you. you may return to –"

"But is she captain? Is she going to come home?"

"Baka!" Abari Renji hit the young boy on the head, "this is Princess Mei we're talking about, of course she's coming back." People behind them shouted their agreement.

Suddenly, the large doors that hid room 46 opened, the princess emerged. For a moment silenced ensued as the Princess' eyes swept the scene. As soon as she smiled, cheering came from the crowds in front of her and people were making hasty bows before embracing her, Yamamoto emerged from the room beyond.

"I've always found the princess far too personal with her people than is entirely necessary, Captain Hitsugaya." Yamamoto whispered as Hitsugaya emerged from a shadow.

"oh?"

"But I must admit, she brings much happiness to this place." Yamamoto sighed and looked at the young captain, his old eyes held defeat. "You may go to her now."

Hitsugaya walked towards the princess, she saw him and rolled her eyes as he bowed to her. He looked up, the smile he loved so much was on her face, and he ran forwards and embraced her. They held each other at arms length,

"You did it princess…Mei, congratulations." They both smiled and leant in, the thrill of the evening captivating them, Mei closed her eyes.

"What're you talking about Hitsugaya!" Renji broke them apart and embraced them both, he then noticed the angered look on Hitsugaya's face and lamely added, "…_captain _Hitsugaya."

"What do you mean _"what am I talking about?" _Hitsugaya said through clenched teeth.

"That's not the only thing to celebrate!"

"why, what's happened?" Matsumoto cried as she too embraced the princess.

"It's the princess' birthday!" renji nodded with enthusiasm.

"My…?" that's right, in all the confusion she had completely forgotten, it was her birthday. Matsumoto let out a whoop of joy.

"Double celebrations!" she screamed, "party at 10th squad's quarters!" she was about to move but then waited for the dreaded "_Matsumoto!!!" _to issue from her captain's mouth, she turned to him. He smiled.

"Sure."

* * *

So things seem to be going swimmingly right? Oh…how wrong you all are. For there are some birthday surprises to come that will not be so pretty.

Oh come on, its true love right? It's not meant to go so smoothly.

I'll give you all a few days to think things over, place your bets, but oh will you be shocked. Actually, probably not that shocked. :D

Oh and review it. REVIEW IT NOW.


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry for the wait. Are y'all ready for the first big surprise? Well then, let's begin

* * *

The 10th squad quarters were one of the biggest in the grounds, it housed the division comfortably and the festivities had been going on for hours. The main assembly hall that Hitsugaya used to address his subordinates was decorated with colourful lanterns; they illuminated the room with a soft glow. The sound of drunken laughter drifted out from the hall to the princess, who sat on the steps outside. She had been enjoying the party but she soon became tired and needed fresh air.

"I thought you'd be outside." She looked around, Hitsugaya stood at the doors, he came and sat next to her. "Do you know when the royal family will contact you?"

"No," she sighed, "I have not been told." Hitsugaya placed an arm around her; she rested her head on his shoulder. Although they had done this in secret many times, both felt uneasy. "Is this really ok?" Mei whispered into his robes.

"Probably not," he looked down at the girl and they both laughed. Their relationship was now known to everyone in the shinigami now, soon Mei's parents would hear of it too, for some reason they assumed this would make it more acceptable. But it didn't, they were back in the same position, if not an even worse position than before.

"What're we going to do, Toush?" She buried her face into his robes, the hopelessness of the situation dawned on her.

"Hey," Hitsugaya whispered down to her, when the princess did not look up he pushed her off him and grabbed her shoulders. He looked at her with all the determination he could gather in his emerald eyes; "I will _not _lose you." As she looked at him, she wanted, so desperately, to believe him. But she could not bring herself to do it.

"No, Toush," the princess stood up and walked a little way away. "You will never lose me. But it seems our destinies are too far apart. They've been side by side as far as I remember, but never in all eternity will they cross." The princess turned away from him.

"What're you saying? We end it? After all this; all we've been through?" The princess flinched, although Hitsugaya had not shouted his words cut through her like ice.

"You know as well as I, Hitsugaya, we took it for granted that we would be safe, but nothing has changed, _nothing-" _the princess stopped short as Hitsugaya turned her around and grabbed her shoulders again.

"Fine."

"Fine?"

"If that's what you want then that's fine. But on one condition-"

"What?"

"You look me in the eyes and tell me," he shook the princess slightly so that her head came up and their eyes were level. "Tell me you don't love me."

Hitsugaya smiled as he realised the princess could not speak. Her grey eyes clouded with frustration and she looked away. Hitsugaya heard his name being called from inside and let go of Mei, the princess grabbed his robes before he moved and pulled him down close to her face. They looked at each other sternly, both trying to figure out what was going on in their heads; the usual routine they took before they realised arguing was not worth it. For a few more moments the princess searched the captain's face, she put her hand to his cheek, he closed his eyes as he felt her cool touch. She fell into his arms and he held her tight.

"Look up for a second," he turned her so her back was to him and still holding her close he tilted her head up to the stars. "That night you were leaving, I sat just here. I was counting up all the times I knew you were the one I wanted; one time for each star. Then something happened that made me realise I should run after you."

"What happened?"

"I ran out of stars." The princess laughed, tilted her head and blushed. Hitsugaya smiled, "nell?"

"Well what?"

"Now what do you say?"

Mei turned back around to the boy she loved so much and for once in a long time, spoke what her heart was telling her to say;

"When my strongest days have faded and when the years are showing on my soul. When my heart and flesh depart this place; this life that sung our song. You'll still be the one I want." Hitsugaya and the princess put their foreheads together and closed their eyes, feeling closer than they had ever before and, for once, safe in each other's arms. Mei felt Hitsugaya's hand on her back, pulling her closer, she smiled and their lips brushed-

"Your highness!" The pair broke away, not even surprised they had been interrupted. They did blush, however, when they saw the onlooker was Hinamori. She turned red before whispering, "Yamamoto and your parents are upstairs to see you."

"My parents?" All shock forgotten, Mei was already walking into the hall; she had not seen her parents since she was six years old. She glanced back to see Hitsugaya and Hinamori enter the building; talking in quiet voices. She took herself upstairs to the room where all meetings like this were held. She found the giant red doors that hid it from view and pushed them open.

Inside was a table, sat there was Yamamoto, who stood and bowed as she walked in. many other members of room 46 were present (they stood also and bowed) but her eyes fell onto the two people in front of her.

One wore robes of deep purple, a crown of gold and silver on his head, the woman next to him was younger in comparison, she still held the reminisce of a youthful beauty. Her tiara was much like the one the princess was wearing now, except it had gold intertwined with the silver; matching her purple robes.

Both smiled as the princess came in and curtseyed, suddenly aware that she was _still _in her school uniform from the real world.

"Princess," her father's voice had not changed, "there is much to discuss, sit." Mei took a place in front of the table. She was not surprised at the unaffectionate way her parent's approached her, it was like meeting a stranger you were supposed to remember. Yamamoto took out a sheaf of papers and handed them to her father who peered at them closely before handing them to her mother in turn.

So the meeting began, they talked of how the princess was to be educated, where she should stay, the new privileges she was to be given as she had gotten older. Mei sat and listened to all this talk; only interjecting her views when asked or when she felt was necessary. They talked for what seemed like hours; finally her father placed the papers away and held the queen's hand who smiled down at her daughter.

"You can make preparations to leave now-"

"Wait. What?! I just go back, where am I going now?" The princess bit her lip, her rudeness would not go unnoticed, but the king did not say anything about this. He just reacted with cautious confusion.

"Mei," she remembered his voice well, he spoke like he had when she left that day, "you are now of age."

"Of age, fathe- majesty? For what? I'm not leaving soul society am I?" At this her father turned to yamamoto.

"You did not tell her?"

"I assumed you did, your majesty, I was told by room 46 that she knew."

"Knew? About what?!" Mei could hold her anger in no longer; they had done this since she was a child, talking over her as if her life belonged to them.

"Mei," the princess froze, hearing her mother's soft voice after so long was something she thought she'd never hear again. "You are of age now, you are to be married."

* * *

I apologise as to the complete crappyness of this chapter, I intended it to be good, really I did, but who knew the fluff would not come so easily this time round?

Oh and this little twist is only half of the story, that is if I can be bothered to write the rest as this turned out to be quite rubbish.

Sorry again.

Oh, I know- you guys tell me where it is I'm going wrong, k? Just review and instruct me how to correct this. Cause its an awesome plan :)

seriously.


	4. Chapter 4

Ok, I got inspiration, and I hope it's better than the last chapter :P

Note- the rating for this story has gone up; things are getting a bit fris-kay…but I don't do lemons...cause i aint that bitt-ah...sos, had to be said... :)

* * *

Mei was stunned for a few moments, hoping her mother would laugh and tell her it wasn't true. The princess dropped her gaze. 

"This…this can't be." Mei could think of nothing else to say. Then the fire rose up inside of her once more and she was on her feet, she looked Yamamoto in the eye. "Tell me this isn't true. How could you be so heartless?"

Yamamoto did not meet the princess' eyes. "Your highness, this is not my decision, your parent's decided it was what was best for you-"

"That's not what I meant. You know I love him, I've always loved him. But you knew this would happen to me and you let us-"

"Who is she talking about?" her father turned to Yamamoto and the princess bit her lip. She looked to Yamamoto, pleading for him not to say a word.

"I," the old man looked to the beautiful girl in front of him, her grey eyes held panic, "have no idea." The princess silently thanked him and turned back to her parents.

"Mei." Her father's stern voice filled the air, "who are you talking about?" Mei's heart was beating fast; if she told them about her relationship with Hitsugaya he would certainly lose his position and be banished, but if she did not tell them then she would be sent away to marry someone she did not know. In the end it seemed a simple decision.

"A…Abari Renji-" She waited for the gasps and the sudden coughing fit of Yamamoto to subside. "He has become like a brother to me," at this the atmosphere eased a little, "I haven't been with family for so long I had lost all bonds, but it was nice to feel like I did have one." She spat the words softly at her parents.

"Mei," her mother leant in, "you will see him every six months when you travel from the Other World to our realm. You can stop here and see him." Her mother smiled in the triumphant way she did when she thought she had solved a problem.

"Very well," Mei forced a smile, which was difficult considering her heart was breaking. "When do I leave?"

"It's customary for the bride to leave on the night of her birthday, but if you wish to stay and see this…brotherly…friend then you may and we can all leave in the morning.

"All?" Mei looked up uncertainly.

"Yes, the bride must have an escort to her palace."

"And this palace resides in the Other World?"

"Yes." A whole realm away. "Is that ok princess?" Mei nodded. "Very well, til the morning when we meet again." Mei glanced at her father has he got up to leave, so tomorrow was the last time she'd see everyone for another six months. When she was married. A queen. Mei stood up, although her mind was elsewhere her body was willing her to move.

Mei made her way back downstairs, not even checking to see where her parents were going. As she walked down the steps she saw the shinigami gathered, their faces solemn; they must have heard the news. Even Zakari Kenpachi seemed to be disheartened by this turn of events, he bowed and shook his head as she passed; they had all known who she loved and yet the world was destined to throw them apart. But she smiled reassuringly as she made her way through the crowd; the silence seemed so different from the atmosphere when she was last down here. She walked straight out of the building, heading to the one place she knew she'd find comfort.

She entered her bathroom in her chambers; the pool was full and although it was warm ice had begun to find its way across the surface.

"You know what's weird Toush?" He came out of the shadows and held her from behind. "I don't even feel like crying." Hitsugaya brushed her hair away to one side and kissed her shoulder. "When your heart's been broken so many times; it's difficult to feel much sadness." She turned to him and neither knew what to say, Hitsugaya leant in to kiss the princess but before he could she had taken his hand and was leading him somewhere else. "Wait."

They went back to her bedroom and the princess shut the door while Hitsugaya lit the lamps. They turned to each other and from across the room Hitsugaya could see the princess blush. "I'm going to get married." She wasn't saying it to him, more reassuring herself. "I'm going to be queen, have a husband and rule some place." Worry crossed the princess' face.

"You're going to make a wonderful queen and anyone would want such a beautiful wife." The princess looked away as she noted the lack of emotion in Hitsugaya's voice.

"This beauty that I have," the princess sighed and removed her jacket; Hitsugaya went from a look of boredom to polite interest, "no stranger has the right to see." She untied the ribbon from her hair and let it fall to the floor. Her hair fell to her elbows now, longer than Hitsugaya remembered. He felt an urge to look away as the princess began to remove the loose tie from around her neck and her hands moved to the buttons of her shirt, but he had an even bigger urge to open a window; the room had suddenly become extremely hot.

Hitsugaya stopped leaning against her wall and began to walk towards her, his mouth suddenly dry. He swallowed hard as he approached her and placed her jacket back on her shoulders. He tilted her chin towards him and kissed her lips, harder and more passionately than he had before. They broke away for a moment and gasped for air. As they looked at each other they realised that they were no longer teenagers holding onto mere lust but this was the real thing. They had known it deep inside but their kiss seemed to seal it.

"What did you do that for?" Mei gasped at him. Hitsugaya smiled; reminded of the moments so long ago in her bathroom.

"Do…what?"

"Take off my jacket and then kiss me. How does that work?" Mei returned the smile as she spoke. "I mean I know we're new to this whole thing but-"

"I kissed you because I love you. I put your jacket back on because;" his hands held her face, travelled down her neck, onto her shoulders and threw the jacket off, "taking it off is my job." She laughed into the kiss they shared a moment after.

* * *

"When do you leave?"

"First thing in the morning."

"That's only in two hours."

Hitsugaya lay next to the princess as she rested, only her bare back and long brown hair visible to him. Her angelic curls ruffled in an unholy mess but she still managed to look beautiful. He traced the outline of her back with his finger and smiled as he felt her shudder. She turned to face him; she held a thin white sheet to her body and sighed. 

"I may as well go have my bath now," she stood and wrapped the sheet tightly around her body.

"I may as well come too," she stooped, picked up a pillow from a chair and threw it at him. He laughed and looked at her; the sunlight streamed through her hair and she smiled.

"You should get out of here. My escort will be arriving soon." As she said this she looked out the window, shock spread on her face, she turned back to him. "They're here. Out- now!" She threw a pillow at him again to make him hurry.

"Alright, alright." He hastily put his robes on as the princess checked her appearance in the mirror and threw on a robe to. They turned to each other;

"Well. This is it." The princess looked at the man she loved and he took a few strides forward and kissed her hard, forcing her into the door. They were both shocked by the sudden hit and rush of heat. They broke apart, smiling.

Then they jumped as someone knocked on the door loudly, "your highness is everything ok in there? your escort has arrived."

"oh, yes I'm fine, I'll just…open the door." Hitsugaya leant in close to the princess as she spoke; she felt his heated breath against her skin.

"I love you. Goodbye princess…Mei," she hugged him with force.

"Bye Toush. I love you." Mei let him go and with one last look he went out another door, making sure no one could see him first. The princess leant her head against the door and smiled.

"Err…princess? Are you going to open the door?" the voices sounded from the outside.

"Oh, yes, sorry!" Mei opened the door and looked around; her escort consisted of twenty to thirty people. All looking at the dishevelled but beautiful princess before them.

"Captain Hitsugaya! You're later than expected!" Matsumoto looked at him from a large group as he made his way down stairs to the gate the princess would take to the Other World. He smiled happily at Matsumoto as he joined her. "you're certainly in a good mood, considering her highness is leaving."

The smile faded from his face as he realised this and looked around as he heard people cheer and joined the crowd in bowing as the escort passed. The princess was amongst them and has he rose he could see her. She was easily the most beautiful person anyone had seen, her dress of silver trailing behind her, the translucent veil hid most of the beauty of her face but even the moon could not compete with the grandeur and elegance she held.

Hitsugaya saw her father speak a few words to her before she turned to her people and, after a wave, stepped through the gate. She turned back and Hitsugaya got one last look of those grey eyes before they disappeared into darkness.

* * *

_Four months later_

"Captain! A hell butterfly comes with news of an emergency meeting; all the captains are to gather in Yamamoto's presence!" At hearing this Hitsugaya ran from the room and was soon joined by other captains as they made their way to Yamamoto's quarters.

They arrived shortly and everyone took their usual positions, the Captain did not wait for any introduction but delve straight into conversation.

"The Other World is under attack. Aizen placed troops there in the early hours of this morning. The princess of the Other World, our princess Mei contacted us not long ago-"

"Sir?" Kira stepped forward, "shouldn't that be _Queen Mei_?"

"No, her highness is not yet married. And that is not relevant at this time. Like I was saying she contacted us stating that she and the prince were managing to hold off the attackers but they are losing many lives. The princess has asked for our help, and we shall give it." This comment was met with many remarks of approval. "Everyone go back to your divisions and prepare for war. We leave in half an hour."

* * *

Wooh! War! Yay! Ok, not so yay cause violence is never the answer. 

That's it for this chapter folks, please review and more secrets shall be revealed:)

I'm out for now, catch you cats later.


	5. Chapter 5

This is a quick update eh? On with the show:

* * *

The taste of blood, a flash of lights and then darkness. That was all the princess remembered. Wait, more was coming back to her…

_-Begin flashback-_

_She was stood on the battlefield, the fierce war raging around her, every soldier involved in separate battles, ranks had been broken and she could not see the prince anywhere. The espada had entered out of nowhere and now chaos ruled the city, buildings lay crumbled along with piles of bodies; blood sprayed her face and she fought on._

_The princess had never been part of live combat before but she had trained enough to fight back, the element of water by her side she sent cascades of it into the enemies, damaging several but not enough. She needed help from the shinigami and hoped against the odds that they had got the message; a butterfly struggling to fly against the war would be difficult._

_A hand grabbed her shoulder and she turned, ready to strike. The prince stood before her, dark blue hair matted with blood, his pale skin too was streaked and his blue eyes held panic. "Get to the tower. Now. I've arranged for a shield to be placed there. You will be safe."_

_"I am fighting here-"_

_"The kingdom can't afford to lose you-"_

_"And what of you? You're going to stay while I leave. You're crazy!" the princess screamed over the war cries, the prince smiled in the way that made the princess cringe._

_"You will do as I say. If it weren't for your beauty I would've let you carry on fighting." The prince pushed the princess into the arms of a stranger; a guard from the palace who took her, still shouting at the prince, to the tower._

_When they arrived the princess had given up retaliating and allowed herself to be carried to the tower. Suddenly a blast issued from the corridor, the guard and the princess were thrown in opposite directions; the princess landed directly in the middle of the tower floor, her head hit the cold stone and she was out._

_-End Flashback-_

But it was colder than before, and windier, looking now as she turned her head, the walls and ceiling of the tower had been blown away. She sat up but immediately fell back; the pain in her head coursed through her. She lay still and could hear the battle raging on below her. Blood flowed into her eyes from her head and she wiped it away gently.

She felt entirely exposed; glimpsing the stars it was as if she was falling asleep on the edge of the world. She noticed a thin line of blue streaked across the sky and, as she gained strength and sat up, she could see there were many lines above her; creating a dome shape. Oh, so this was the shield the prince talked of.

She stood and as soon as she did she felt a rumble beneath her, she saw a crack forming on the platform she was stood on and realised that the building was crumbling beneath her. She ran to where the stairs used to be and found that all around her was a steep fall. The building buckled and she ran to the edge, should she jump?

Too late. The shield began to shatter and she saw Aizen before her, smiling through the darkness, he held out his hand and a streak of lightning came from the heavens, splitting what was rest of the tower into pieces. The princess crouched in the place she was, she felt herself moving downwards, plummeting into darkness, and she closed her eyes.

It took her a few moments to realise that she was no longer falling, something cold and hard was wrapped around her and she slowly opened her eyes. She was floating in the middle of space, being held up by a platform of ice that curled around her. She recognised it instantly and looked up.

Hitsugaya stood on the last standing part of the tower; one of the wings of his bankai had come down to her and picked her up. She glimpsed the silver hair and those beautiful emerald eyes looking down at her, a smile on his face. She smiled back but soon the smile faded for in an instant Aizen struck again.

The wing that held the princess up was blasted to pieces, the princess fell and she landed heavily on the debris on the ground. The ice protected her but cracked and shattered. She hit her head for the second time that night and was out again.

When she finally woke she looked around for Hitsugaya and could see him no where. She stood and wandered through the debris, looking for him.

She finally saw him, still stood on the remaining part of the tower; Aizen must have fled because there was no trace of him. The war was evidently over, all that was left was a massacre on the ground. She looked up to Hitsugaya and the smile faded from her face as she noticed Hitsugaya was arguing violently with Yamamoto though she could not hear what they were saying there was hatred in Yamamoto's eyes; Hitsugaya had his back to her. Both men were screaming loudly at each other, but the harsh winds carried their voices away. Then she saw the unbelievable.

Yamamoto raised his zanpaktou and, yelling something awful, thrust it into Hitsugaya so quickly no one had a chance to react.

Mei stared ahead as though witnessing some horrible nightmare. She shook her head and mouthed the word "no" soundlessly. A great black wave seemed to crash over her and she did not even feel her knees touch the ground at the same time Hitsugaya hit the floor. He had turned as he fell and she could see the light go from his eyes. The last thing he must have seen was the figure of Mei reaching out for him. All sound left the world and all she could see was his face, even her screaming sounded distant.

Someone put their arms around her to hold her from moving forwards, she did not go against them as she could see it was too late; Yamamoto had left and Hitsugaya was gone. She cried out from the pain of loss and for a moment caught a glimpse of the person holding her. Ichimaru Gin.

Mei was so shocked by the smiling face she forgot all that happened and fell into silence, his lips were moving but she was not registering anything. She knew she should feel hatred but a memory came back to her that stopped this.

_-Begin Flashback-_

_"Your highness! You are up late!" Matsumoto called as she climbed up to the roof of the building. _

"_There is a meeting to be held soon, the captain will attend." Mei responded without emotion._

"_Just one captain?"_

"_Oh, I meant captain__s, __forgive me Matsumoto, I have a lot on my mind. If you'd excuse me." The princess raised herself up and began to walk to the edge of the roof._

"_It is not unfamiliar to me." Mei looked back, slightly shocked at the melancholy tone Matsumoto had. "To only see one person when there are thirteen in front of you." Mei began to say something, her heart was beating too loud to hear the words, then how come everything Matsumoto said was clear? "I've noticed, the way he looks at you. I've known that look. But then again, many men look at you in the same way." Mei blushed; it was hard to see in the darkness but the moonlight illuminated her face._

"_Matsumoto, I appreciate your concern, but that's not what-"_

"_Tell me then. Of this love story I have no idea of."_

"_Wha-"_

"_In every girls life there's a man that she'll never forget and a summer where it all began." _

_-End Flashback-_

Mei had never thought to question who this man was, that Matsumoto held in her heart, but looking back now she remembered all the times Gin would leave the room and Matsumoto would sigh, in that way you did when in love. Matsumoto would laugh because the princess would do it whenever-

Suddenly the sound was switched back on.

"Aizen will see you now." Gin grinned at her, her tear stained face having no affect on the man whatsoever. He picked her up as though carrying a child and the princess did not even react; she had lost all sense of caring and tears spilled from her eyes.

She was thrown to a stony floor and noted that she was in some kind of basement, how long it had taken to get to this place she did not know, she had lost sense of everything.

"The battle is over; we lost, but retrieved something far more valuable." Gin exclaimed happily to someone the princess could not see.

"Winning was not our goal." The shape of Aizen materialised in front of her, she didn't even cower in his presence. He took a hand a wiped the blood from her face, in the caring way a father should.

"Join me." He said simply. The princess was too tired and uncaring to be shocked, she merely shook her head. "I don't think you quite understand. These people you stand with, these authorities you follow, they have run your life since you were a child. At the age of six they stripped you of all family bonds. Sent you from place to place wherever suited them and never asked for your opinion. They banished you for doing what you believed to be right; you were right by the way. They forced you to go to marry a boy who only saw your body. And now," he stroked her face, "they've killed the only boy you ever truly loved."

As he spoke the anger that had built up in the princess finally pored over, she saw the face of Hitsugaya streak across her mind and she almost cried out again. But she composed herself and though of all the times she had been forced to do as commanded, every time she had wanted something and lost it. Well not this time. The princess stood and so did Aizen.

"Will you join me, Princess?" He asked as she walked away.

"Yes." All three figures faded into the darkness.

* * *

THE END

_**Kidding!**_ I actually did want to end it here, do you think I should?

You know what I just realised; I **know **Toshiro is spelt without the "u" but I always call him Toush. Crazy eh? Oh right- views of the fanfic

Well Hitsugaya is dead and the princess has joined with Aizen…has the world gone mad!?

Maybe, maybe. Is it going to continue? Maybe, maybe.

Oh and review it. REVIEW IT NOW!!!


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry for killing Hitsugaya everyone! but it's aight! keep reading...its good!

* * *

_-Some time has passed since the last chapter you read. Not sure how much, I thought that it should be measured by how much Mei changed, not by days or months-_

Aizen stood before the gathered espada, who in turn were sat in their usual places at the table. The princess sat behind Aizen, those who saw her now would not recognise her. Her long angelic curls were now straight, their dark brown colour turned even darker, her tight black clothing was entirely different from the long flowing gowns she was accustomed to. Even her eye colour had changed; they went from the shimmering grey everybody knew to harsh, deep pools of violet. She sat, head turned away from the group of men, one leg over the arm of her throne. She looked bored.

"If there is no other news then I think we should all continue working." Aizen smiled down at his followers, the princess stood to leave, each member of the espada glancing her up and down and then bowing, before leaving themselves. This was the way every meeting went; the espada would leave before Aizen or Mei, who would share their views.

"That was entirely pointless-"

"I asked you," Aizen said calmly but the authority was clear. "If you would rather go out tonight, Grimmjow was more than happy to escort you-"

"I'm not one of your espada. I don't kill for fun." Mei spat at him; so she still upheld some of her morals, Aizen made a mental note to change this.

"Don't worry princess," Mei scowled as Grimmjow used her title, he came out of the shadows and stood opposite her, "I can teach you to like it." Aizen rolled his eyes as he realised the princess would retaliate.

"Piss off," Mei spat at the man, his blue hair swayed as he bowed his apologies.

"I'm leaving. Mei, make sure you come and see me this evening." Aizen gave the princess one last look before leaving. He left her and Grimmjow alone, debating whether or not that was the wisest thing to do. Mei walked away from the espada member and turned as he began talking to her.

"You think you're safe. Just because Aizen sees you as his heir. When he's gone, you better watch your back." Grimmjow smiled but it vanished when he noticed the princess was at his side in an instant, her long knife held against his throat. Their eyes did not meet, he heard the princess laugh.

"Touch me then." Mei flicked dark hair out of her eyes as Grimmjow smiled; her training was evidently paying off. Mei leaned further in, "that's a dare."

"Well I wouldn't be the first to have touched the princess," Grimmjow whispered back, silently enjoying the anger he aroused in the woman. "Never saw you as the type to fuck a captain. Hitsugaya, wasn't that his name?" Grimmjow didn't have time to block; the princess kicked him with all her strength in the chest and he was thrown backwards. He crashed into the wall at the opposite end of the room, causing a huge dent in the metal. He shook his head; if he had been given time he could've broken her leg, he cursed himself for underestimating her. He was on his feet in a flash but again did not register her movement, she had her hand on his throat, how she reached there on the tall man he did not know, his back hit the wall and he could feel her blade next to his abdomen.

"Say it. Say his name again. I swear I'll make it the last thing you say." He looked down to those violet eyes; he could see the anger burn there. He let out a long slow breath and smiled down at her, admiring the fact that she knew he could kill her in an instant and yet she held the knife against him.

"I seem to have struck a nerve-"

"YOU WILL REMEMBER YOUR PLACE BEFORE ME" she bellowed at him, her face twisted in anger and voice so full of venom he almost flinched. The key that hung around her neck came out of her clothes and he remembered her importance in this place.

"Forgive me, your highness. But if I may say, I doubt your parents have allowed you to keep that position." He thought she would strike again and he was ready, but she didn't, the fire seemed to leave her as he said this. She let go of him and turned away.

"Get out. Now." She stood and waited for him to leave. He lingered for a moment longer before bowing and leaving. She waited before collapsing onto a chair, her body shaking as in recent times she had forgotten how to grieve properly. She thought of the heartache her parents were going through, the shinigami and all the people of Rukongai that believed in her. But she had suffered more pain than anyone in all the years of her life; did that make her actions selfish? She shook her head to clear it and got a grip on herself; this is not the way she should be thinking.

As she began to walk back to her room she found memories of her last night in Soul Society come back to her. The flash of emerald eyes looking at her with such intensity she melted beneath them. Silver hair shining in the moonlight, mixed with her own brown curls, the feel of his skin against hers, his smell, their lips touching.

She hadn't realised she was already in her room, waiting inside was Gin. The princess had become quite accustomed to his company and he bowed as she stood, she nodded curtly to him and went to her desk.

"Kurosaki Ichigo and others have entered this place. It's said they are looking for a companion we took-"

"It's not me. They do not know I'm here."

"No, it's Inoue Orihime they have come for. They're being held off on the outskirts of this place. Aizen was wondering if you would wish to see to them-"

"No. I do not." Gin merely smiled at her and nodded, once he said no more Mei decided she was bored. "If that is all, you may leave." Gin hesitated, "what is it?"

"Inoue Orihime heard you were hear and asked to see you. Will you see her?" Gin smiled as the princess debated this.

"Yes, take me to her now."

Orihime's room was much like Mei's except Mei's room did not look as if anyone lived there. The orange haired girl looked up as the princess entered and ran to embrace her. As she did the princess realised she had forgotten the affection of another person and pushed the girl gently away from her.

"Orihime, I have joined with Aizen, I am no longer your companion. Gin said you wished to speak with me. What is it?" Orihime's face softened once she got over the shock.

"I had hoped, it wasn't true, but now I guess I was wrong. How could you?" Mei looked away from the girl as she said this.

"Yamamoto killed…him."

"Him?"

"Captain Hitsugaya. Therefore I do not belong in that place any longer. They controlled my life and did things against my wishes; do I not need to be heard?"

"But they believed in you, they loved you-"

"No, Orihime, they did not. If they did they would not have killed him."

"You loved him that much?"

"With all my heart."

"I don't believe you." The princess looked at the girl as she said this, her eyebrows raised. "I don't believe that anyone who joins with Aizen could have a heart." The princess laughed, she made Orihime jump as she did so.

"I may as well not have one, it's broken into so many small places, forgive me that I cannot be bothered to put it all back together-"

"No! I refuse to believe you're saying things like that. Do you think that's what he wanted? What Hitsugaya wanted?" Orihime put her hands to her ears as to not hear the princess retaliate. But the princess had no time, someone opened the doors.

"Your highness, you were meant to see me this evening." Aizen stood at the doors, for once his cool demeanour no longer there. "Walk with me now." The princess nodded, looked back to Orihime just one last time before moving into the corridor with Aizen who began to walk briskly through the place, talking fast.

"I am entrusting you to go with Gin, who will act as your guard and a group of minors to the real world. You have not seen enough live combat to join in war. We need three souls. All brothers, go to their house and retrieve them. There's a hollow after them so I expect you to be able to engage-"

"Isn't there a resident shinigami there, won't they try to intercept us?"

"Luckily you will be performing this task in two hours, that's the time the resident shinigami returns to Soul Society to swap with someone who will take a further four hours to get there."

"But what if they detect us and send an emergency squad?" at this Aizen stopped, this thought seemed to deeply trouble him. "They won't. It's just one hollow. They don't understand the importance. If they do Gin will have them out so fast you won't notice." The princess smiled.

"Very well."

* * *

They entered the street in a town the princess knew so well. She was only a few miles from the high school she went to in this world. She cringed from an empty feeling she experienced when she realised she didn't care. It was dark; the only light was given by the moon.

"Your highness, do you want to take the hollow, it's headed this way. Coming from an Easterly direction…I'll go with you. Just to keep and eye on you." Gin stated as the group walked down the street, "the rest of you gather the souls." Gin and the princess separated from the other group who continued in the same direction while the pair turned to a different direction.

As the pair turned into the park where Mei spent many days here, she passed the tree where she had once sat with Hitsugaya by her side. They heard a low rumble behind them and turned.

The princess gasped at the vastness of the snake like hollow. It's white mask illuminated by the moonlight. It twisted and writhed in the distance, a distance that was shortening in quick time. As it approached the princess she glanced around and noted that Gin was behind the hollow, waving at her. She grinned back and took a fighting stance.

The hollow was coming quickly now, she placed her hands in formation to attack with her element; luckily the lake gave a massive supply of water so she was sure she could win. The hollow was meters away; she twisted her hands to begin her attack. It was close enough for her to see the cracks in the mask, she held her hands upwards. She could feel the cold aura it had and she whispered a few words as water formed in a orb over her hands. She held her hands directly in front of its face-

And she was thrown sideways; she rolled with another body away from the hollow, the water left her hands. She stopped moving and found a black robed figure on top of her; damn Gin, what was he playing at? She pushed the body off her, stood and turned away from him.

"what the heck did you do that for?" Mei turned back to him.

"Mei?" her eyes widened as they fell across a stray strand of silver hair, falling into emerald eyes that she knew so well.

* * *

Whoa! How did that happen? No idea and I wrote the freaking thing.

Oh, sorry…there was bad language in this chapter!

Stay tuned for a conclusion!

Oh and review it. REVIEW IT NOW!!!


	7. Chapter 7

You guys haven't guessed what happened yet! Lol, I can't wait to see your faces…well I cant- but you get what I mean! On with the story…

* * *

Mei stared ahead at the man before her, she opened her mouth to speak but found that no words would come. She noticed him glance her slowly up and down, taking in the straight brown hair and violet eyes. Her curves had not changed at all but there was something in the way she spoke before, something harsh that made him turn away, his green eyes losing the flame they had a moment before.

"Forgive me; you look a lot like someone I knew." There was no doubting it, she tried to tell herself she was not seeing the truth but it was there in his voice. The longing in the way he used to speak to her, that melancholy tone she loved so much.

"OK!" Gin swooped down in front of Mei, his long body blocking the boy from view. "Let's end this little conversation here; I never was a sucker for romance." His voice faded, Mei opened her mouth to speak but no words came. "Come along princess," before the teenager had time to react Gin had ripped a hole in space and he and the princess were gone.

* * *

"I know what I saw. It was him." Mei sat on her usual throne like chair in Aizen's study, she looked far too small for it; she could lie in it comfortably if she wanted. Both knees were close to her chest, her hands held her head.

"Your highness, outside now. I wish to talk to Gin and Tōsen alone." There were four people gathered in Aizen's study; the princess, Aizen himself, Gin and Tōsen. The men all stood watching the princess' eyes dance, trying to catch a conclusion that was dancing on the tips of her fingers.

"I need to know what's happening." Mei turned to Aizen and he put on the familiar fatherly look.

"Mei, I know this is frustrating for you but please wait outside." Mei was about to answer back but figured it would get her nowhere and so she did as she was told; she went to stand outside the door, keeping it slightly ajar so she herself could hear what was happening. She leant against the wall and listened closely.

"You let them speak? Gin! You fool! If she found out-"

"I didn't realise what was happening, I got her out of there two seconds later than I should've, what's the big deal?" Gin cut Aizen short, who glared at him in return.

"The big deal," Tōsen whispered, making both men look around "is that Mei is going to find out what really happened. Once she finds out; we've lost her. And she _will _figure it out. She's not stupid." Mei held her breath; what was the truth?

Mei could see through the crack of the door that only Gin did not look concerned. He smiled and nodded his approval at what Tōsen said, "Yeah if she ever found out that you-"

The door snapped shut, Mei turned even faster, her blade already out. Her violet eyes fell across blue hair.

"Little risky; listening in, don't you think Princess?" Grimmjow chuckled as Mei got over the shock.

"I thought I told you to piss off." As she said this, anger bubbling inside of her, Grimmjow laughed again.

"Now, now, I was just saving you from getting into too much trouble…" he continued to taunt her but Mei was not listening; if there was some secret she did not know, would this espada member know? That was unlikely; Aizen never told anyone of his plans apart from Gin and Tōsen. The princess came back to conciseness and noticed Grimmjow was waiting for her to retaliate.

"Oh…err, get fucked." She turned back to the door to open it a little. Something struck her head; she fell sideways onto the floor soundlessly. She looked up at Grimmjow, his blue hair swaying.

"I never thought such bad language should come out of a woman. 'Specially such a pretty one." He grinned down at her and held out a hand to help her up. She ignored it and stood herself. She pondered for a moment on the best way to kill him when the door opened.

"You can come in now Princess." Mei smiled at Grimmjow mockingly before she entered. She heard him walk away; the smile vanished from her face as she saw, stood in the middle of the room was Hitsugaya.

"Captain Hitsugaya?" Mei walked forwards with a hand outstretched towards the figure of the boy she loved so much. She was about to step further forwards when Gin's zanpakuto came out in front of her, preventing her from walking on. She looked to him and Gin shook his head with a smile.

"We figured that we may as well tell you the truth Princess." Aizen sat on his throne behind Hitsugaya, whose face remained blank, not saying a word and looking straight through Mei. The princess focused her attention on Aizen now, though her eyes darted back to Hitsugaya every now and then. Aizen stood and addressed her. "Can you tell me the name of my zanpakuto?"

"Kyōka Suigetsu, its properties are-" She faltered as Aizen began to laugh softly.

"You haven't figured it out yet; you learnt quickly from me and yet you don't understand? Please, continue." Mei shrugged off the embarrassment of being called stupid.

"Its name suggests its illusionary techniques, as a moon reflected on water or a flower in a mirror can be seen but not held. Kyōka Suigetsu's shikai has the ability to place anyone who sees it under a state of…" she turned back to the figure of Hitsugaya, "hypnosis." Realisation flooded over the princess as she looked at him and remembered the night of the war, what she had seen. Aizen had walked forwards and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I can put anyone under something called _absolute hypnosis_. Make them believe what they're seeing is real. So I could, for instance, fake my death." He breathed in slowly, "or fake another's." As he said this, with a wave of his hand Yamamoto appeared before the figure of Hitsugaya and with a piercing scream slammed his soul slayer into Hitsugaya's body. And Mei saw it again, the light going from the eyes; she could almost feel the pain as she watched the blood drip down to the floor.

"So that is what happened…And today, with the hollow... that was Hitsugaya, the real one. He's not dead." Mei turned to Aizen, fire burning in her eyes. "You tricked me, why" at this Aizen laughed and the princess bit her lip, realizing what a fool she had been and how childish she seemed now.

"Why? We needed you on our side but we thought we'd tell you the truth before you left-"

"Where am I going?"

"I don't know. Gin- what happens to a soul of soul society if it's killed- surely it doesn't go back?"

"Not sure, I say we retrieve the soul and harness it for ourselves," Gin smiled at the princess as he stood with his zanpakuto raised.

"Why do you want to kill me? I thought you saw me as your heir?" Mei said this surprisingly calmly; all the shock of past events seemed to have settled.

"Well you see princess," Aizen said as all three men began to advance on her. "You're powerful, way more powerful than anyone expected- your talent is rough but I've been teaching you how to use it. But now Hitsugaya has seen you, though he did not recognize you, he will go back to soul society and ponder on whatever happened to that beautiful violet eyed girl he saw. Then it might click- princess goes missing after war and then a girl who looks just like her gets taken back to another world by Ichimaru Gin." At the sound of his name Gin waved at the girl. "Now, no one will believe that the pretty, sweet princess they knew came by choice so they will send someone to rescue you, and we can't have that-"

"People have come for Orihime, you know that!" Mei's back hit the wall.

"Yes but they classify her as a traitor so they won't care what happens to her. Like I was saying before you interrupted, something you undoubtedly learnt from Gin-"

"Sorry." Gin smiled.

"You are powerful. And if they find you, take you back and train you, you're going to be a hell of a lot of trouble to fight. So, we may as well get rid of you- just in case."

"You know something Aizen?" The man looked sadly at the girl he had come to think of as a daughter. "When I said I didn't kill for fun? I think I might get some satisfaction when I finish you three off." Mei took a fighting stance and the men laughed at her. Everyone took their positions, ready to spring.

They all jumped as the door banged pen and a group of people crashed into the room.

* * *

Who guessed it, eh? You really think I'd kill hitsugaya off?

Nah, not Toush, he's just too cool for school!

:D Love my little geeky phrases.

Oh and review it. REVIEW IT NOW!


	8. Chapter 8

been a while, hasn't it? anyways- the fic

* * *

Mei watched as the mass of bodies fell to the floor with an almighty crash. She lost her fighting stance as the voices flooded the room.

"Get the hell off me Renji!"

"Argh! The orange hair- it blinds me!"

"Rukia, that's actually _my_ leg."

"They're _suffocating _me!"

"Yachiru !!! Stop biting my head-"

"Bite her back!"

"Gerrof!"

"This is ridiculous."

The mass of black robes seemed to untangle itself and slowly each figure stood to face the three men who opposed the princess. Hitsugaya stood first, his green eyes glancing back at Mei as though searching for the girl she used to be. Ichigo raised himself up too, orange hair making him easy to spot, next Ishida, the Quincy looked thoroughly ruffled after the entrance. Matsumoto gathered up her robes and set about correcting them on her body, while Yachiru stood the same time as Ikkaku Madarame, both pulling faces at the other. Orihime was helped up by Rukia, both women gasping for air as they had been at the bottom of the group. Abari Renji was the last and got up and rested his soul slayer on his shoulder as if nothing happened.

"You know Princess, when we get back you're gonna have to make up a damn good reason for them not to execute you." Renji smirked and took a sideways glance at the girl who was still too shocked to say anything.

"Mei!" Aizen shouted across the room, "come and take your place beside me." He smiled through all the heads at the girl. Everyone's head swivelled back to Mei, evidently they had thought she'd been captured. The princess held her breath; she hated to do this but-

"What're you talking about?" Mei walked through the crowd, smiling at the others as she went; she finally stood next to Hitsugaya, who did not look at her. "I _am_ in my place." She looked to the captain next to her, who took a protective step forwards.

"You really think that these people can overthrow me?" Aizen laughed at the two teenagers in front of him, "Hitsugaya, we have fought before and you know the outcome-"

"Shut the hell up Aizen," Ichigo stood forwards too, "we fight against whoever takes our comrade-"

"Comrade?!" Aizen chuckled at that. "The princess joined me of her own accord; I assure you I did not take her against her will- right Mei?" Mei blushed, she had already lied to her friends once about it and she hated lying but what choice did she have? Simple; she'd have to tell the truth.

"I…I did." She looked to the floor as her comrades gasped.

"No. Princess, how could you?" Rukia's voice seemed inaudible; the princess had never heard her talk so sorrowfully.

"Don't be so foolish Rukia," Everyone turned their heads towards the silver haired captain as he spoke, "the princess would never go against soul society intentionally, I'll explain when we get back." What the hell was he talking about? Mei looked at him uncertainly, a small smile played across his face.

"Captain Hitsugaya, when you fought with Aizen before," Mei bit her lip, Hitsugaya was known for his arrogance, once she bruised his ego he would not be happy with her; but this was war. She wouldn't lose him again.

"You think I'd take them on by myself? I may by a genius but I'm not that amazing." Hitsugaya smiled while looking down, he had changed since they last met. Mei fought down a feeling to laugh; they had changed positions entirely. She had become the arrogant one while he spoke lightly and now she still held flames behind his eyes.

"Well then this is a bit of a shit rescue isn't it?" Ichigo rubbed blood from the side of his face.

"As in?!" Hitsugaya turned scarlet, Mei smiled; he hadn't changed that much.

"As in," Ishida piped up, "if you can't fight them, and we _definitely _can't fight them-"

"What the hell do we do now?" Madarame finished the sentence.

"As delightful as this little reunion is, I figured it's about time we finished up." Aizen spoke softly, regaining the attention of the people before him.

"He's right," Mei thought back to the times she wandered the place, "The alarm system will have been set off. The Espada are probably on their way right now. We have to get out of here-"

"But that doesn't really seem like an option, does it Mei?" Gin smiled at her. Then, for the first time Mei had seen, he stopped smiling as the wall behind the three men collapsed.

"Chad!" Orihime squealed for somewhere in the background. But Chad having knocked down the wall was not the thing that surprised the princess. Behind Chad stood all members of all the squads of soul society, she had forgotten the vast number that there was; every single member had come to this place.

"See, the thing is Princess," Ichigo walked forwards and put a hand on Mei's shoulder, making her jump out of shock, "as soon as word got out that Hitsugaya planned on going to rescue you, everyone wanted to come." Mei looked at him and for the first time in what seemed like a long time, she felt the affection of others and tears entered her eyes.

"All of you came?" Mei took a deep breath.

"'Course!" Zaraki Kenapachi shouted from the crowd, which roared it's greetings at the princess. "Yamamoto said you would've finished by now-"

"Finished?" Mei looked at him uncertainly. Hitsugaya took a step closer and she shuddered with delight as she felt his warm breath against her skin for the first time in so long.

"Mei, follow my lead." They met each others eyes and Mei nodded, the certainty in his eyes could make her agree to anything. "Aizen, you were fooled. Princess Mei remains loyal to soul society-"

"Do you, princess?" Aizen looked at her and she avoided his gaze; if he told the shinigami of how much she resented the authorities of soul society, they would surely abandon her. "What was it you said? About Room 46 being more in power than your father; you wanted the power for yourself-" Mei laughed.

"You believed all that? Then you were deceived. I remain loyal to my subordinates," everyone cheered at this.

"C'mon, we're leaving." Hitsugaya turned to Mei and held out his hand.

"What? Without a fight; after all we went through we're not gonna finish this asshole off?" Ichigo yelled at the top of his voice, "TOUSHIRO???"

"CAPTAIN HITSUGAYA!"

"BOTH OF YOU SHUT THE HELL UP!" Everyone turned as Ishida screamed at them both, rubbing his forehead with his hand.

"…anyway," Everyone turned their attention back to Mei as she spoke, "the captain is right; we aren't ready for war and we do need to get out of here. Everyone ready?"

"It's odd you think we're just going to let you leave." Everyone turned, all around them appeared espada and Arrancar members and everyone stared at one another for a moment before all hell broke loose.

Another battle began to rage around the princess, each time someone came to attack a comrade would protect her. She could not fight with everyone doing hat; Rukia fended off an arrancar who headed for Mei, she then knelt beside the princess and poke quickly. "that key around your neck can get us home," she stood up and slashed her soul slayer at a passing Arrancar, "you know how to do it, you studied the technique with me," again she attacked, "do it now."

As the fight continued Mei was on her knees directly In the middle, she needed cover, she looked up and saw Chad fighting near by.

"Chad! Cover me!" He nodded and walked closer to her; she got down on her knees again and focused hard, trying to remember how to do it. Then it came to her, focus your mind as if you're seeing the entire space and all the bodies in it, pick up directly on each soul you want to take with you, then rip a hole in space and jump through. It all seemed so easy when put like that. The princess began to search for each soul of her comrades and began to create a path for them to follow. It's a pity she didn't look up in time, she would've seen Ichimaru Gin advancing on her, hidden from Chad, she may've been able to defend herself.

Gin swooped down on the girl and slammed his hand to her chest, she cried out in pain and her eyes began to water, she felt people move away from her, towards Gin and already attacking. When the tears cleared she could see both Aizen and Gin taking on three captains a piece. She focused again and she could feel herself on the edge of conciseness. She slashed her hand in the air and cut the night in two, she jumped and was followed by hundreds of souls.

Hitsugaya felt his body being pulled away from the fight and did not resist the pull, he travelled with everyone else to soul society again and landed neatly in the square they used for meetings. He saw the princess' body fall at high speed to the ground, he yelled out; she was unconscious before she hit the floor.

* * *

Yeah, this chapter wasn't really that great. Me figures next chapter'll be the end. :D 

Thanks for the reviews everyone- keep em coming :D


	9. Chapter 9

Whoa…it's been a while, finally chem. And bio coursework is over! So I could update! WHOO! And now begins preparation for summer exams :P

So this is the end of the tale of Hitsugaya and his princess…

* * *

"Her condition's stabilised but I wouldn't expect her to be able to fight for a long while." Retsu Unohana, Captain of the fourth Division told Hitsugaya as he leant on the wall outside the princess room in the fourth squad's quarters. The young captain sighed; as soon as they had arrived the princess was taken into the care of the fourth squad, everyone else refused to be seen until they knew everything had been done to help her. That was three days ago; everyone had healed now, Ichigo and his comrades were preparing to leave and Mei had not woken up. Hitsugaya had not seen her in this time but was constantly kept informed. He had also taken to guarding her room when no one else was around, but he refused to see her. Captain Unohana had encouraged him to see her but he refused; he may have covered for her but he knew she betrayed soul society. It hurt him to even look at her.

"And the mark on her chest? Any ideas on what it means?" Unohana sighed, realising he was avoiding looking at the princess himself.

"We have some idea…" and so she told him what it was Gin had placed on the princess and slowly Hitsugaya's loathing for the man intensified. When she finished she looked at him with sadness in her eyes.

"Captain Hitsugaya, will you not-"

"No."

"Very well, I shall take my leave." As she walked away Hitsugaya took back to his position of leaning against the wall, he closed his eyes and tried to remember the night she left…

_-begin flashback- _

Hitsugaya looked down to Mei who laid her head on his bare chest as she slept; he had his arms around her and brushed her skin with a finger before laughing softly.

"What's funny," Mei opened her eyes and looked up at him before blushing slightly under his stare and burying her face in his chest. He smiled.

"I was just remembering, when I first met you…whenever you stole a glance, your eyes left me breathless." He kissed her head before reminiscing again, "and whenever you played with a straying hair, i just watched your movement and I couldn't speak to you normally." Mei moved out of his arms and lay beside him. She moved a hand up and brushed silver hair out of his eyes.

"When you look at me like that, it makes me melt." Mei laughed as she said it and Hitsugaya smiled, planting a kiss on her shoulder, he brushed her skin with his nose, from her shoulder to her cheek while saying;

"Every quality that you posses, I love. Your innocence," he kissed her forehead, "Your humour," a kiss on her cheek, "your power," her nose received a kiss, "and every other virtue you entail," his lips brushed hers. "And your beauty; you rival even the moon and a sky of stars." He smiled as she blushed, "and I especially love the way you shy away at my praise," he laid his head on her chest this time and she ran her fingers through his hair.

"If I am beautiful then it's because of you. Every hue I received from your love." She looked down at him and saw confusion in his eyes. "Why do you look so lost? What thoughts are you lost in?" When he did not respond she pulled his hair slightly so he looked at her, "what's in your heart?" He took a moment before smiling.

"I wonder how to address you; "most beautiful one", "princess", "my reason for living"? But then I remember these are already your names." She smiled and pulled him up so they were directly face to face. She leant close and whispered.

"Just say my name, it leaves me breathless." He leant even further in.

"…Mei."

_-end flashback- _

"She needs you Tou…Captain Hitsugaya," the boy was brought out of his reverie by a familiar voice, he looked over and saw Hinamori walking towards him she stopped next to the princess' door and looked in. "She needs your voice or the feel of your hand. Trust me," she added as he looked at her cynically. But then again, coming from Hinamori, who had been in this position before, she would surely understand what Mei needed now and in truth he wanted to be right by her. Hinamori opened the door and he walked through, looking back she smiled at him and walked away.

Mei lay so peacefully it was as though she were sleeping with no pain, though Hitsugaya had been told the mark on her chest would hurt her for a while. He noticed that her hair had returned to its usual angelic curls as he sat beside her. He hesitated a moment before grasping her hand, it was warm and seemed to give him some comfort as he knew he could hold her again.

But the thought kept coming back to him, a thought that made a battle go on inside his head;

_she's a traitor, she betrayed al of soul society, all of the shinigami, her parents, me. _

But she thought I was dead; killed by the people she trusted most.

_That's no excuse, even if she thought that she could've informed room 46 of Yamamoto's actions. _

But this is Mei! She would never betray us like this…never.

_But she did._

And so? What if she did? She's back now, everything will be fine.

_But she- _

I love her, I don't care what you say. You're on your own mate.

Hitsugaya cursed softly at the instability of being unable to form an augment against himself and then laughed at the thought of it.

"I know that laugh." He heard a feeble voice say and looked up, violet eyes blinked at him from the bed and she slowly raised herself up. She looked at him with confusion for a moment before shame trickled itself onto her face.

"Don't worry, its ok, no one else knows. And everyone who does has forgiven you. " He squeezed her hand reassuringly, but she still looked at him in that same scared way she had when he saw her last. "Your parents and room 46 have agreed to do a cover up-"

"A what? I mean, why would they; they banished me for sending Ichigo after Orihime-"

"It's harsh, but they've only realised now how valuable you are to us and not just your power, you keep everyone's hopes up and everyone looks to you. Without you to grow into our queen we would be at great loss. Everyone would resent room 46, as they did when you left. So they have given out the information, not that you went of your own accord but on a mission for soul society; it was a success, you helped us weaken their defences. Everyone missed you terribly so no one's asking too many-"

"And you?"

"Me?" He whispered, suddenly captivated by the flames that grew in her eyes.

"What must you think of me now?" Mei could hardly breathe as she said it, waiting for his response.

"God, Mei." He finally lost his patience, "why the hell did you do something so foolish?!" He let go of her hand and stood up, turning away from her

"I thought I lost you," she said in a small voice.

"That's not reason enough! Mei!" He turned back and saw her face was hidden by her dark hair, but he could see the tears fall to her blanket that her hands clutched on to. "It was foolish-"

"You don't think I regret it?! You don't think I woke up everyday wishing I could come back?!" Mei got out of her bed and stood in the thin dress they had placed on her. "God, Toush, you haven't changed- you're just as stubborn as ever." Her voice drowned out his gasp.

"You've changed! You're even more stubborn than me!" Hitsugaya looked into those violet eyes and they both tried to work each other out. Suddenly, all anger aside, seeing her in front of him for such a long time, he walked swiftly to her and pushed her into the wall next to her bed, bringing her arms above her head, pinioning her to the wall and placing his lips onto hers so forcefully it almost hurt.

They broke apart and for some bizarre reason still looked angry at each other. Mei flicked hair out of her violet eyes and Hitsugaya brushed his lips with his hand.

"You're…so…stupid," the captain said while trying to gain breath.

"I…tried…to say...sorry!" Mei pushed him with force on to the bed and for a moment he was shocked; she had become quite strong, but his thoughts were brought to a stop as she returned the kiss with even more force, crushing the last breath out of both of them. Mei tried to pull away but Hitsugaya held her hard against him, not even understanding why when he was so mad at her. He finally let her go, he sat up on the bed and she stood next to him.

"We really…have to stop…doing that."

They stared at each other, panting and then they smiled; realising that for a while, even if it only was a while, they were together again.

Mei suddenly cried out in pain, one hand grabbing the blankets of her bed and the other on the left side of her chest. She fell to the floor, still trying to suppress screams from the pain. Hitsugaya cursed himself; he had completely forgotten about her mark. He knelt down behind her and she sat in his lap, he leant against the wall, one hand grasping hers that held the blanket and his other hand on top of her chest too. Her hand clutched his to her chest hard as though trying to push the pain out of her. Her head fell back onto his shoulder as the pain subsided and they both sat next to her bed, breathing hard. Once her breathing had returned to normal she looked at him as her head rested on his shoulder.

"What the _hell _was that?" she asked him, noticing blush enters his cheeks slightly as she still had his hand on her chest. She rolled her eyes at him and coughed slightly, bringing his wandering mind back.

"Gin, marked you-"

"WHAT?" Mei looked at him, baffled; she turned further to him, waiting for an explanation. In response his hand moved to his own robe and pulled it down at the neck to reveal part of his chest. There was a mark there Mei had only glimpsed at before, inspecting it closely now she looked down to her chest. "And now I've got one too?"

"Yes, they're called seals-"

"I know, I learnt about them when I was a child," she leant back into his arms, her back on his chest; he put his arms around her in a reassuring way. Slowly Mei's hands crept to the neck of the dress she was in and she pulled it down to reveal the top of her left breast, not even blushing slightly as Hitsugaya inspected the mark. It was a small black butterfly, much like the hell butterflies they had in soul society.

"It's going to hurt for a while Mei, you're going to have seizures like the one you just had."

"God that was painful, can't they give me a drug or something?"

"There's nothing for it at the moment but whenever the pain happens just try to breath normally, it'll lessen the constrictions. Mei traced the outline of the mark with her finger.

"But…the shinigami have theirs put on them by soul society so that soul society can allow the _limit release _if they're in the real world. If Gin put mine on me then that means…"

"That only _he_ can allow the _limit release _to happen for you."

"So I'm powerless-"

"Mei!" Both teenagers jumped as people ran into the room screaming the princess' name, they were too shocked to move and gradually the people took in the scene. Mei looked down and went red; she yanked her dress back up to her neck and Hitsugaya helped her stand which was not easy as she was still shaking from the shock of pain.

"What's going on?" A voice in front asked, looking up Mei gasped as her father looked at her questioningly, her mother stood behind him; just as intrigued. "Captain Hitsugaya?" Toush looked thoroughly confident as he bowed to the king.

"The princess had a seizure, I was comforting her," but there was something in the way Mei nodded a little too enthusiastically that made her father raise an eyebrow.

"There's no hiding it you two," Renji up from the back, "everyone knows you were making out." _(A/N renji should so do Lee from Naruto's "nice guy pose" to Hitsugaya and Mei:D) _The king shot him a threatening look, "err…" Renji bowed apologetically to the king and queen.

"Mei," her mother's soft voice came to her, "what's going on?"

"It's like Captain Hitsugaya said, he was explaining what this mark was, and I fell on the floor because it was so painful." Mei tried to seem completely innocent and what she said was true but didn't explain the crazy position the two had taken up on the floor.

"Leave us," the king said to everyone, "stay please captain Hitsugaya." Mei and Toush looked at each other and both had to stop themselves laughing; it's like they were kids again, about to get told off. Everyone else went outside the room but Mei had a hunch that they were listening in. "Mei, can you tell me who Captain Nanahara was?" Mei was slightly thrown back by the irrelevance of the question but answered anyway.

"She was the most beautiful and talented of the shinigami-"

"She was me," Mei looked up as her mother spoke, unbelieving of what she just heard. "That's right," her mother giggled slightly and took the king's hand, "and I accidentally fell in love with the prince of soul society-"

"Wait a second," Mei's parents looked slightly shocked at the colloquial language she used, "are you telling me my mother was a captain, fell in love with a prince and then married him, becoming queen and leaving the title of captain?"

"Yes." Mei's mother looked concerned that Mei did not comprehend what her parent's were allowing her to do, "Mei, if you are in love with Captain Hitsugaya then you can-"

"Marry him, what, right now?"

"Wait up, who said I wanted to be king?"

Everyone started talking at once but when they noticed Mei lapse into contemplative silence everyone followed suit and waited for her to speak. "OK, let's do everything in order. I'm supposed to be marrying the prince of the Other World-"

"Mei, had we known of your situation we would never have forced you into marriage. I'm proud of you though; for doing the best for your people, for the one you love." Her mother smiled at Hitsugaya as she said this, he blushed slightly under her stare.

"Right. Thank you," Mei smiled back. "What's next…?"

"What's your position in the royal household..?" Hitsugaya suggested.

"You will always be princess of soul society and are welcome back whenever you wish to visit us in the palace."

"whoa…what? What do you mean "come back?" Mei ventured.

"Well, we supposed you'd stay here with the Captain," her father nodded at Hitsugaya.

"Stay with him..?" Mei seemed not to understand.

"Yes Mei, and when time comes for you to be Queen, married or not," she quickly added as Mei opened her mouth, "we'll be waiting." Her parents got up to leave, "you'll train here, you must learn how to work under a limit, Kuchiki Rukia has agreed to train you again." Her father looked at her with sadness in his eyes. "We love you Mei, we only ever wanted the best for you."

Mei walked to her father and hugged him, he was slightly surprised but embraced her in return, she then did the same to her mother.

"Take care of each other."

"We will."

* * *

"Thank you all, so much for your help. Soul Society is in your debt." Yamamoto said to Ichigo and his comrades as they all lined up to walk through the gate to the real world. 

"It was nothing. Hey Toshiru!?" Ichigo shouted behind Yamamoto where Hitsugaya stood beside the princess.

"What?" Hitsugaya said and the princess smiled; he no longer minded his first name being said by Ichigo.

"Take care of Mei, and Mei?"

"Yes?" Mei took a step forwards; she wore a long flowing gown of light pink, she looked exactly the same as she did when last in Soul Society, but her eyes still remained violet.

"If you ever need us, don't hesitate to call." Ichigo waved and began to step through the gate. The princess held her hand in salute to them and the rest of the shinigami followed suit.

"The same goes for you guys. We're just a realm away." Mei smiled as she saw her former companions wave and walk through the gate.

The shinigami cheered them off and amongst the jubilations Hitsugaya held Mei in his arms, the square cleared and the two of them remained there, looking out onto the courtyard nearby. It was spring and cherry blossoms had already begun to fall into the small pond in the courtyard.

"So, where're you staying tonight?" Hitsugaya hid a grin as they walked towards the cherry tree.

"In my quarters," Mei tried also to suppress a smile, "I quite like my bed."

"I quite like your bed too." Hitsugaya smiled as he saw her cheeks turn slightly pink. They arrived next to the pond and Mei turned to him, the bright sunshine on his skin and it's reflection by the pond gave the scene a misty quality.

"Is this it?" She asked, staring into the water.

"Is this what?"

"The end of a crazy springtime romance?"

"Is everyone happy?"

"Yes…I think so."

"Then it's the end." Mei smiled as he said this and he came towards her, putting a hand on her face and brushing away the hair. "I just have one last question."

"What's that?"

"Why the heck did your eyes change colour?"

* * *

Why indeed Toshiru, why indeed…I have absolutely no idea...the valentine in me took over…or is there another reason? Maybe, maybe…but you'll never know because this is the end of the story! WHOO IT'S OVER! Oh right…I may as well write: 

THE END

Many thanks for the reviews and as much love out to ember…my chibi beta lady…

The Valentine Kid

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	10. Chapter 10

Apparently I have to make it clearer:

There is indeed a sequel to this fic, there's also a prequel, because it comes in the middle of a trilogy...it's the second one.

**1st story: It wasn't a Summer romance**

_Third part to the trilogy, the story after this:_

**Bittersweet romance. **

You can check it on my profile.

OK, thanks!

Valentine C. O(R)

(QoH)

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